Photographer Paolo Di Paolo died: in his shots Renaissance Italy

He chose to return to his homeland, which he left in 1949, poor and full of hope, but also full of irrepressible energy of vision. Paolo di Paolo, the great photographer with a biography worthy of a novel, died on June 12 at the age of 98 in Larino, a village in his beloved Molise, just a little further. He left his homeland in his early twenties, taking with him only some money to get to Rome and an idea of ​​the future. To truly understand this unique figure in the panorama of Italian photography, it is worth dwelling on the unique and unexpected biography of this man with a sweet and ironic look. He was able to say like few others about the cultural and social transformation of the Italy of the Rebirth. Once in Rome, this boy had two desires: to engage in philosophy and to buy a camera.

For years he attended university classes with his high school friend Lucio Coletti, until two exams before graduation: in fact, he had already been working for some time. Collaborates with Il Mondo di Pannunzio: the photographer who publishes (among more than two hundred authors) the most photos, 573 good, becoming the magazine’s leading photographer Who made the history of Italian culture. Numerous press reports followed, endless services to many other magazines: from Il Tempo to The Illustrated Week. But something unexpected happens. You know, love, like death, changes everything. . Pannunzio dies.

Paolo Di Paolo makes a risky and resolute decision, but one that is perfectly in line with his uncompromising character, as a strict intellectual from peasant origins. He decided not to take pictures anymore. He no longer liked the world of hard press, the world of stolen images, the paparazzi chasing divas in their lambrettas down the street: they demanded dazzling pictures of me, they asked me to do what I had never done in my life: betray the trust of those I photographed, who gave me affection and friendship. It was he, who was called so by the divas on purpose, because they wanted him only because of his attentive look, his gentleness, the grace of his images, his elegance and human sensitivity. Help yourself, That world no longer belonged to him. After only 12 years as a photographer and tens of thousands of snapshots he decided to go into hiding. Just disappear. in silence. Obviously, they also disappear from the radar of the information world, from photography, from everything. The young man married the beautiful Elena, who was his secretary. A difficult choice, very difficult psychologically: he will persist for years in the conditioned reflex of using his index finger as if he were firing a Leica shutter.

Even in the family, no one knows the past of this photographer who traveled with Pier Paolo Pasolini all the coasts of Italy, for an unforgettable report (Long sandy road), Nobody knows his friendship with Anna Magnani, with many intellectuals and artists, from Flaiano to MacariNobody knows the many comic stories made with the keen eye of an anthropologist but with the heart of a child in front of the world’s amazement.

Paolo Di Paolo, the photographer who lived twice. Fate sometimes imposes unexpected surprises. And so, as in the plot of a surrealist novel, his daughter Silvia discovers by chance, in the cellar, the hidden life of her father: a drawer full of negatives, a veritable treasure trove of important and beautiful pictures. When asked for information, the father first denies it, and then admits his past life. Even the mother, the only one who knows about this wonderful and turbulent past. An affectionate, conscientious and “invisible” partner must admit that her husband was a wonderful photographer, very much loved by women and greatly appreciated for the intensity of his work.

From this discovery (which took place in the early 2000s) Paolo di Paolo began to come to terms with his past, and despite his continued reluctance, some old prints from this secret archive began to circulate. His photographs appear for the first time in a small and fascinating archaeological exhibition in the Ghetto of Rome, the Louvre Museum. The intense, unexpected and unpublished images depict the legends of Dolce Vita: the faces of the actresses and actors who were the protagonists of that off-again season.

passing through Rome, Bruce Weber sees them, the famous American photographer and director. He buys all the pictures, not knowing who they are, but he wants to know more about that unknown author. Then he finally managed to get in touch with Paolo Di Paolo and they became friends. Weber enchants with his story, which evokes the story of Vivian Maierthe nanny photographer, whose beautiful photos were abandoned and found by chance, turning her into a true international legend of street photography.

Bruce Weber, as a photographer fascinated by the eyes of Di Paolo, made a thriller two years ago that was successfully presented at the Rome Film Festival. Alessandro Michele, creative director of Gucci, also sees Di Paolo’s photos. And he, too, falls in love with her: thus, in 2017, the exhibition at the Maxxi Museum in Rome was born. International interest is growing towards this vanished and reborn author.

In 2021, Milan will host the first phase of a surprise exhibition: Long sandy road that revolves around the world. Now in Mexico City, I’m going to Canada soon. Until five years ago, Paolo Di Paolo lived in the strictest secrecy. But everything changed very quickly: Thus, coinciding with his last birthday, last May 16, the Sapienza University of Rome wanted to honor its distant student and awarded him an award honors degree In the history of art recognized as one of the loudest voices of Italian humanistic depiction.

It was a relief for that boy who loved studying and philosophy, but was only two exams away from graduating because he was determined to fix his time story on film. His new book dedicated to his trip will be released this summer, In the Summer of the Italians created with Pier Paolo Pasolini. A touching story that, in its own way, is utter and full of humanity. Poetic images full of memory. Paolo Di Paolo did not have time to review them.